Painting Front lower plastic grill

somers181 · 09-04-2011, 07:24 PM

Has anyone tried to paint their front lower plastic grill on the WS/WT Fiesta yet???
I was considering having it done in the same colour as the car but not sure if it makes it too much black?????
Any opinions or ideas appreciated........

In Focus · 10-04-2011, 12:04 AM

Ours is silver and I think its grille would look good in black. But instinct suggests your car would need something to break up the blackness on the grille and contrast it with the paintwork, such as a chrome outline of some sort (like on the WT Zetecs). I can't tell if you've got chrome foglight surrounds, which might help.

That all said, all black looks ok on the black XR5 Focus.

http://wa.ahg.com.au/details/1362.53...s-Xr5-Turbo-LV

In Focus · 10-04-2011, 09:05 AM

I meant to add that if you put something like Meguiars Trim Protectant on the plastic it darkens it up one shade - might be worth a try.

trento · 10-04-2011, 12:00 PM

I've painted mine with satin black bumper paint, also did the rear 'diffuser' came up a treat and I just wack some armorall (sp?) on to get it even darker.

Took me an afternoon and the paint plus flexicoat primer set me back about $50. Just go to any paintshop and ask for the bumper paint, I reckon its better then normal acrylic coz it has a bit more flex in it.

macou · 10-04-2011, 08:22 PM

Looks nice trento, very nice!

somers181 · 11-04-2011, 08:16 AM

Hi Trento, car looks great, did you remove the grill to paint or mask up the car???????
If you did remove them, how long and difficult was it to do as i have only had a quick look and it looks alot more involved than an afternoon spray job??????
I have ordered a chrome surround for the lower grill so if i do paint it black the chrome surround will give it some break up.
I am still not sure whether to order the chrome fog lamps yet.......

trento · 11-04-2011, 04:11 PM

Hey Somers, I removed the grilles and diffuser to paint them, that way I could get an even coverage and not worry about spraying my radiator.

To remove the rear diffuser just start at the bottom on one side and slowly work your way around.

For the front top grille... simply undo the clips under the bonnet with a screwdriver and mask up the badge. Trust me if you dont paint this one as well it looks stupid!!!

For the lower grille I found it easiest to remove both the headlights and the airbox which takes about 15 minutes as it is only a few screws and a couple of torx bolts then reach down behind the grille to undo the clips by hand.

then it's just a matter of prepping the pieces with metho allowing to dry and then starting with the flexiprime, from memory that took half an hour to dry then I used three very light coats of black so as to get a nice smooth finish, if you want it more textured apply it a bit thicker.

somers181 · 11-04-2011, 05:43 PM

Thanks for the info.......... wish i hadn't already replaced my front grill badge with a gell black ford overlay, could have saved some time.
I will definitely look to doing this when the chrome strip arrives, might even consider swapping the top front piece with the chrome as well, they were on ebay a while back................. again thanks